Stating that “there is no dearth of political will to take action against corruption in the country today”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked CBI officers to take action against the corrupt, without hesitation, however powerful they might be.

Inaugurating the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at Vigyan Bhawan on Monday, Narendra Modi asked the CBI officers not to be deterred by the history of power of the corrupt and the “ecosystem” created by them to tarnish the investigative agencies.

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“These people will keep distracting you, but you have to focus on your work. No corrupt person should be spared. There should be no laxity in our efforts. This is the wish of the country, this is the wish of the countrymen. The country, the law and the Constitution are with you,” he said.

Commending CBI’s work over the past 60 years, the prime minister said CBI’s chief responsibility is to rid the country of corruption. “Corruption is not an ordinary crime, it snatches the rights of the poor, it begets many other crimes, corruption is the biggest obstacle in the path of justice and democracy,” he said.

He said corruption in the government system hampers democracy and the first casualty is dreams of the youth as in such circumstances a certain type of ecosystem flourishes killing talent. Corruption, the prime minister said, promotes nepotism and a dynastic system which erodes the nation’s strength, seriously hampering development.

India got a legacy of corruption at the time of Independence and instead of removing it, some people kept nourishing this malady, he said. He remembered the scams and the prevailing sense of impunity just a decade ago. The corrupt felt assured the system stood with them. There was an atmosphere of policy paralysis and development came to a standstill, he said.

After 2014, the prime minister said his government’s priority was to instill faith in the system, and for this, the government started taking action against black money and benami property in mission mode, inflicting punishment on the corrupt, as well as reasons behind their activities.

Transparency in the processes of issuing government tenders was ensured and this was highlighted by the difference in 2G and 5G spectrum allocations, he said. The GeM (Government eMarketplace) Portal was established to ensure transparency in making purchases in every department of the Central government.

The prime minister said today’s Internet banking and UPI stand in stark contrast to the earlier ‘phone banking’ malaise. On receiving telephone calls from persons associated with influential political parties, loans worth thousands of crores of Rupees were given by banks. This had ruined the country’s banking system.

The government made efforts in the past some years to bring the banking sector to an even keel. The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act had enabled confiscation of Rs 20,000 crore worth of properties of the fugitive offenders.

He said the corrupt would not shy from even looting welfare aid sent out to beneficiaries of government schemes. Be it rations, homes, scholarships, pensions or any other government scheme, the Prime Minister said, the original beneficiary would feel conned every single time.

“Even a prime minister once said for every rupee sent out to the poor, only 15 paise reaches them,” Modi recalled. Giving the example of Direct Benefit transfer, the prime minister said that the government has so far transferred Rs 27 lakh crore to the poor.

If the 15 paise reaching the beneficiaries out of every Rupee had continued, Rs 16 lakh crores would have already “disappeared,” he said. The Prime Minister remarked that beneficiaries are today getting their full entitlement with the trinity of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile, while more than eight crore fake beneficiaries have been removed from the system. “Due to DBT, about Rs 2.25 lakh crore of the country has been saved from going into the wrong hands,” he said.

Recalling corruption in recruitments in the name of interviews, he said to stop this, interviews were abolished in Group C and Group D services at the Centre. Similarly, urea related scams were tackled by neem-coating of urea. The Prime Minister also remarked on growing transparency in defence deals and emphasis on aatmanirbharta in the defence sector.

Stressing the need to give up the silos approach in work, the Prime Minister said that joint and multidisciplinary investigation will be possible only in an environment of mutual trust. He said that India’s economic power is growing while those who create obstacles are also increasing.

The prime minister warned that attacks on India’s social fabric, its unity and brotherhood, its economic interests and its institutions will also increase. “Corruption money will be spent on this,” he said as he stressed the need to understand and study the multinational nature of crime and corruption.

Stressing the need to further expand the use of forensic science in investigations, the Prime Minister noted that even though crimes are becoming global due to modern technology, their solution also lies in modern technology.

During the programme, the prime minister conferred the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service and Gold Medal for Best Investigating Officers on CBI officers. “Through their work and skills, CBI has instilled trust among the common citizens of the country.” he said.